by Terry L. Besser
Assistant professor and extension sociologist
Iowa State University Extension to Communities
Remember the song that describes a trip to grandmotherŐs house with the words "over the river and through the woods"? Imagining the trip brings to mind pictures of pleasant scenery, farm lanes, fir trees covered with fresh snow and quaint bridges.
However, if "over the river and through the woods" describes the trip to work every day, the path of the school bus or the supply route for local businesses, the reality of the current condition of the rural transportation system causes the trip to lose much of its nostalgic allure. Deteriorating bridges, narrow winding roads, and inadequate road maintenance are facts of travel in many rural areas. Add to this the necessity of commuting long distances for jobs, health care, schools, etc. which is common for rural residents and the necessity of shipping supplies in and business and agricultural products out; and we begin to understand the scope of the problem facing rural communities.
According to "The State of Transportation in Rural America" (an article in "Small Town" written by Dennis Brown of the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service) the declining quality of the rural transportation system poses a real threat to rural communities and the lives of rural residents. The majority of the nationŐs roads (81 percent) and bridges (80 percent) are in rural areas. About seven out of ten of those rural road miles are the responsibility of local governments (counties, towns or townships) to build and maintain with varying amounts of federal and state assistance.
As rural areas lose population, fewer and fewer people carry the responsibility for upgrading and maintaining roads and bridges. If rural residents do not, or cannot, support the expense of road and bridge maintenance, the transportation system declines to such a state that economic and population growth are discouraged. This creates a vicious cycle in which fewer businesses and people are available to pay for the transportation infrastructure, causing even greater loss in population and economic activity.
Today, one in four local roads is inadequate for current travel patterns and almost half of rural bridges are structurally deficient. These are national averages. Brown reports that transportation conditions in the rural Midwest are even worse. Compared to other sections of the country, the rural Midwest has experienced a greater loss of population and in contrast to some areas, has a denser network of rural roads to care for.
A tragic consequence of the poor quality of the rural transportation infrastructure is the safety hazard it represents. Consider that only one of five people lives in a rural area, yet one of every three traffic accidents occurs on a rural road and half of all traffic fatalities happen on rural roads. Rural residents face a disproportionately greater risk than urban dwellers of experiencing and dying in a traffic accident. Highway officials report that the number one cause of the high mortality rate on rural roads is inadequate maintenance or failure to upgrade or replace roads and bridges when needed.
Brown suggests three strategies to address the deterioration of the rural transportation system. First, he encourages residents of towns and counties to evaluate their transportation system in an attempt to focus their limited resources. Policy makers have to decide whether the whole network of rural roads and bridges can be maintained at safe levels or whether some roads and bridges should be closed to devote sufficient money to upgrade the remainder.
Second, he advocates a heightened role for federal and state governments in helping local governments more effectively use limited transportation dollars. Federal and state governments should promote transportation planning efforts that encourage regional planning and cost sharing across local political boundaries. They could provide technical assistance and training of local highway officials. Another important contribution they could make is to sponsor research on road and bridge design, and construction standards with special attention to rural conditions and resources.
Finally, Brown recommends that rural officials have greater input into state transportation boards and planning activities to lobby for the assistance mentioned above, and for other reasons as well. At the state level, decisions are made regarding the allocation of state highway resources and about other modes of transportation such as rail freight, rail passenger, water transport and air traffic. Deregulation has resulted in less service to rural areas via these modes of transportation making rural towns even more dependent on road transportation. Without effective advocacy, rural interests can be easily overlooked in these decisions and in the allocation of resources.
The safety of rural residents and the economic vitality of rural communities depend on a well functioning transportation network. In an era of government downsizing, maintaining and upgrading the rural transportation infrastructure represents a major challenge. This is particularly the case for those local governments already reeling from the related problems of depopulation and loss of businesses.
Contacts:
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
